Kuriyama Shigeru was born in Shigeoka prefecture in 1912. In 1937 he changed his name to Matsunaga Shigeru, and changed his name to Kuriyama Shigeru again in 1982. Throughout his long career he was a member of all the main print societies (Nihon Hanga Ky˘kai, Kokugakai) and he was the (co-)founder of other societies (D˘dosha, Yűkari). He contributed to numerous magazines, and studied with Onchi K˘shir˘ and Hiratsuka Un'ichi. He was also active in the Folk Art movement.